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Lifestyle Engagement

We’re seeing a growing resistance towards traditional marketing in favor of a more authentic approach, putting a premium on consumer trust. In our third and final module, we’ll be diving into best practices for sharing your brand message in the most authentic way possible, building up trust and integrity with your consumers. From fake influencers to exposing uncommon truths, we explore several tactical ways for brands to avoid common pitfalls of inauthentic marketing.

Furthermore, to truly integrate into the consumer’s lifestyle, this module explores the importance of design branding and how to make your brand part of your consumer’s branding. We round out our third module with a look at interactive packaging and rebuilding consumer trust through brand rituals and packaging that satiates consumer desire for instant gratification.

Implications - Brands are venturing into adjacent industries to create brand new products not typically associated with the brand’s heritage or legacy. As the hype for streetwear and concert merchandise becomes more mainstream, brands are taking note and getting into the game themselves. Creating their own distinct fashion lines and collaborating with actual designers, brands, most often in the food and beverage industry, are venturing outside their comfort zone in order to connect with consumers through products they can actually identify with. Such exclusive releases help redefine how these typically traditional brands are perceived, especially by younger audiences.

Workshop Question - What adjacent industries can your brand tap into as a way to create exclusive experiences for your consumer?

Implications - With brands across the board developing more visually interesting and appealing packaging, standing out on the shelf is more competitive than ever. To address this, brands are turning to NFC technology in order to engage consumers with interactive digital content. Moving beyond the practical security and inventory-related applications of NFC tags, this approach gives companies a chance to more deeply connect to consumers.

Workshop Question - How could you leverage technology to more deeply connect with your consumer?

In the era of 'fake news,' consumers seek out trust-forward alternative outlets

Implications - The Internet has democratized the gathering of information, but it's also granted almost anyone the ability to create content. This creates a lack of trust for all news sources. For the Millennial generation, there is an extra level of mistrust surrounding large news outlets that can only be alleviated by way of alternative outlets that lead with accountability.

Workshop Question - What could come off disingenuous about your product or brand, and how are you closing that information gap?

Big brands opt for no logos to showcase the weight and relevance of their brand

Trend - As efforts toward greater authenticity and brand loyalty continue to thrive, we're seeing a rise in unbranded, logo-less tactics–often from well-known companies. Not necessarily looking to move away from heritage or legacy, these brands are relying on the iconic imagery, aesthetics or references to their products to connect with consumers. These unbranded examples are serving to create more approachable identities for brands, allowing consumers to better connect with product references and emotional connections.

Workshop Question - How might you better connect with consumers through more subtle, unbranded tactics?

Trend - Shea butter has long been a staple in skincare and haircare products, and it's now being incorporated as a base in the cosmetics world. As a result, these products are able to enhance both consumers' beauty and the health of their skin.

Workshop Question - Consider an additional added benefit that your brand could add to one of its products/services.

Implications - As branded merchandise becomes ever more popular among consumers looking to showcase their loyalty, the products themselves are evolving into more than just clothing and memorabilia pieces. Diversifying branded products into the home, holiday and even media space, brands are not only looking to create shareable moments, but rather expand their reach into categories not typically in their wheelhouse.

Workshop Question - How could your brand expand their reach through unexpected merchandise?

Implications - Understanding the rising influence of social media influencers, as well as acknowledging the interest piqued when traditional brands collaborate with adjacent industries, cosmetic companies are ramping up their co-branding initiatives via various product lines and/or retail spaces. Such experiences and products are formed as cosmetic brands aim to target Millennial and Gen Z consumers, appealing to their proclivities for novelty purchase decisions.

Workshop Question - Consider a company or influencer your brand could co-create with.

Implications - Consumers are more concerned than ever about where their food comes from – with considerations like whether it’s fresh and what ecological footprint it’s already made. To educate consumers and help them feel good about their purchases, brands are calling on technology like blockchain to communicate exclusive details about their products. With leading technology becoming more comforting than confronting, brands can begin implementing high-tech strategies to share product information with consumers in a way that establishes trust.

Implications - As streamlined payment options continue to evolve with the use of emerging tech, a shift toward more experiential purchasing solutions are on the rise to better engage consumers. Moving beyond mere convenience, brands are tapping into social platforms, multimedia outlets and even AI capabilities to add more memorable moments to the purchasing journey. Focusing on experience rather than speed, these paths to purchase are representative of a growing consumer desire for brand experiences that are engaging even prior to product consumption.

Workshop Question - Think of the typical path to purchase for your consumer. How could you tap into adjacent industries to elevate that experience into something more memorable?

Implications - Social media has ushered the world into an age of consumercentricity where lifestyle reigns supreme. This lifestyle-focused approach has changed consumer expectations of businesses across industries and is impacting the way they view technology. The question of how dense technologies such as blockchain or IoT will enter into people's everyday lives is answered in more consumercentric applications that enhance natural consumer behavior, as opposed to serving pragmatic functionalities.

Workshop Question - What is one part of your product or service that could be simplified?

New innovations empower consumers to ensure they receive quality products

Implications - Busineses are creating tools that protect small brands and individuals against counterfeit production and purchasing. These tools work to protect artists and creators from the theft of their designs, while empowering consumers and providing them with some autonomy throughout the purchase journey.

Workshop Question - How could your brand better empower it consumers throughout the purchase journey?